Prison Sentences

Durham Tees Valley Probation Trust are committed to working with the Prison Service when an offender is sentenced to a period of imprisonment to assist in their sentence planning and risk assessment with the aim to reduce reoffending. The Trust also provides high quality and timely advice to the Parole Board.

The prisons located within the Trust area are HMP Kirklevington Grange, HMYOI Deerbolt, HMP Frankland, HMP Low Newton, HMP Durham and HMP Holme House.

• When an individual is sentenced to a prison sentence of over 12 months (or between the ages of 18 and 21 years any length of custodial sentence), they will be allocated to an Offender Manager who will make contact with them during their sentence. They may recommend work the offender should complete during the prison sentence in order to examine and reflect on the crime committed and work towards reducing their risk of further offending. The Offender Manager will also complete risk assessments to decide if an offender is suitable to be released to a certain address. When an offender is released from prison, they are serving the remaining period of their custodial sentence in the Community and are subject to a licence, which the Offender Manager monitors, supervises and enforces.
• Prior to release, If the offender has served a prison sentence for a Violent or Sexual offence for which a 12 month or longer sentence was imposed, contact will be made with the Victim Liaison Officer to confirm if the victim would like to add conditions onto the licence preventing the offender from making any contact with them or their family or exclude the offender from entering a certain area.

During the offenders period on licence the Offender Manager will;

• If relevant apply to the Governor of the releasing Prison for additional conditions to be placed on the offenders licence to manage their risk of further offending and harm (for example specify that the offender accesses support with a drug or alcohol support agency).
• Monitor the offender in the community, working in close partnership with the Police.
• Supervise the offender, completing specific work regarding the offence, examining reasons the offender committed the offence, the harm that was caused to victims and the community and ways in which they can address areas of their thinking or other needs to reduce the risk of committing crime in the future. Efforts are made to engage the offender with partnership agencies to address any areas linked to their offending behaviour (e.g. Drugs, Alcohol and Accommodation).
• Inform the Parole Board or the Court of any breaches of the licence which may result in the individual being recalled to custody.
• Each prison located within the Trust area (HMP Kirklevington Grange, HMYOI Deerbolt, HMP Frankland, HMP Low Newton, HMP Durham, HMP Holme House), has a number of Trust employee’s seconded to the Prison Service who work with offenders during their custodial sentence. Tasks are varied dependent upon the prison establishment, however staff may work with the offender to identify areas of their life they would benefit from addressing during their custodial sentence to reduce the risk of committing further crime upon their release. Seconded staff may also contribute towards the preparation of risk assessments and exchange relevant information relevant to their risk of harm or reoffending with other agencies.
• Offenders serving long Custodial Sentences usually imposed for serious offences are subject to a lengthy and detailed risk assessment process prior to release in order to satisfy the Parole Board that their risk has reduced to a level that can be safely managed in the Community. The Parole Board is an independent body of professionals who work with criminal justice partners to protect the public by risk assessing prisoners to decide whether they can be safely released into the community. Offender Managers make significant contributions towards this risk assessment process and continue to closely manage and monitor the offenders if they are released on licence.